After years of less-than-stellar business, the French online gambling market is finally starting to show some signs of life. Last year, the business saw its first revenue increase since 2011.
The biggest gainer in the French revenue revolution was online sports betting. Franco punters wagered approximately €516 million ($586 million USD). That’s up 47% over the previous years and added €82 million ($93.2 million USD) in revenue to French-facing operators.
Soccer was, as one might expect, the biggest moneymaker in the French sports betting world with a Q1 2016 leap of 45% over Q1 2015.
Soccer wasn’t, however, the only sports betting market that saw big gains. Tennis, basketball, rugby and hockey all saw gains of 50% or more. (With a 71% leap, rugby wagering up more than 71% over the previous year, according to a report on CalvinAyre.com.)
One dark sport in the Franco sports betting scene was horse racing, which actually declined 7% from 2015.
On the poker side of the business, revenues were up a modest 2%. That might not be a big deal anywhere else but when you’re talking about the French online poker market, that’s actually a huge deal. This is the first time French facing online poker operators have seen revenues increase since 2011.
One aspect of the French online gambling market that’s worth noting is the mobile betting market. According to a report published on CalvinAyre.com, more than half of all French online sports betting was done on mobile, but only about 47% of poker was done that way.
While the gains weren’t nearly as spectacular, the French online poker market actually saw its first revenue gain in almost five years.